No surprise here.
The Philadelphia Eagles are expecting to have A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith back in the starting lineup for their Week 6 game against the Cleveland Browns, according to NFL insider James Palmer.
This news is hardly unexpected with the Birds coming off rest from the bye week but the further confirmation is nice.
Brown suffered a hamstring injury leading up to the Eagles’ Week 2 game against the Atlanta Falcons. He hasn’t played since and the offense has clearly missed him. Brown did manage to practice in a limited capacity on the Friday leading up to the Eagles’ Week 4 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Smith suffered a concussion during the Eagles’ Week 3 win over the New Orleans Saints. He did not attend practice leading up to Week 4 but he’s presumably much further along in the concussion protocol, if he hasn’t already cleared it entirely.
Jalen Hurts should be expected to look much better with Brown and Smith back. The Eagles were able to put up 34 points and 410 yards of offense against the Green Bay Packers when Philly’s top two wide receivers last suited up together in Week 1.
For those wondering about the status of Lane Johnson, Palmer did not specifically report on him but the expectation is that he’ll be available. Johnson was reportedly cleared to play in Week 4 but he was held out as an abundance of caution after suffering a concussion in Week 3. [UPDATE: John Clark reports that Johnson is “good to go for Sunday.”]
